Title of research:

Research Capacity in Health Librarianship: The ReCAP Project

Objectives:
 To identify key priorities and barriers for research development in health librarianship

 To gain consensus on key questions to be included in a national survey for research

development in health librarianship

Please give a brief justification of your proposed research project:

The aim of this focus group study is to identify key issues relating to the engagement
with research of health librarians with research and in particular, their consideration of
research development in the contexts of their professional practice.

The existing healthcare system is based on accountability, cost containment, and quality
of care; fundamental to the achievement of these is the integration and application of the
results of sound, reliable research and therefore the practice and delivery of evidence
based patient care1-3. The latest Government documents which consider the future of
the NHS confirms the continued Government prioritisation of this in highlighting the need
to develop a strategy for leadership in health related research1-4. The development of
research capacity goes hand in hand with research and development activities and the
Department of Health proposes that building research capacity will be achieved primarily
through the application of collaborative practice models5-6.

Librarians are fundamentally associated with research; their work involves the
organisation and management of the knowledge that is generated from research. The
recent review of NHS library services7 identifies research as one of the four key areas
where librarians have an essential role and recommends that the Department of Health
issues formal guidance indicating this. Given this recommendation health librarians will
in the future increasingly need to become more engaged with research. Furthermore, as
research capacity building is becoming increasingly significant within the current climate
of research and development in health, it is necessary to consider the role of health
librarianship in this context. This is particularly pertinent in light of the recent Hill Report 9
which specifically recommends that “research to measure the impact of the application
of best available evidence in decision making should continue to be pursued vigorously
and routinely by health librarians, in partnership with researchers”.

It is hoped that the end result of this focus group study will be a clearer identification of
the priorities and barriers in relation to research development in health librarianship and
to reach a consensus agreement which will inform the development of a national
questionnaire survey which will explore these issues in greater depth.